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Bard Alumnus Laszlo Bito Speaks on "Saving Sight and Gaining Insight: A Drug is Born"

"Saving Sight and Gaining Insight: A Drug is Born" Talk on March 1 by Bard Alumnus Laszlo Bito '60 Professor Emeritus of Ocular Physiology at Columbia University ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.--Join Laszlo Bito, novelist and inventor of a successful glaucoma drug, for a talk on how science and the arts enrich each other as career choices. Hear the real story behind the development of a best-selling drug, Xalatan, from its inception in the laboratory through clinical research and litigation. Learn what it is like to publish a novel and have it translated into several languages. The talk at Bard College is on Thursday, March 1, beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Weis Cinema of the Bertelsmann Campus Center and is free and open to the public. Born in Budapest in 1934, just in time to be aware of the atrocities of World War II, Bito realized that contrary to the biblical story of Isaac God never stays the murderous hand. As a forced laborer in a decrepit coal mine, Bito secretly began to write short stories. Forty years later he published his first novel, Abraham and Isaac. Bito fled to America to escape the retributions against those who took part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. His first home here was Bard College, where he arrived in the winter field period of 1956—57. He graduated from Bard in 1960 as a pre-med major and from Columbia University in '64 with a Ph.D. in biophysics and cell biology. He retired as professor emeritus from Columbia University in 1997 after inventing a glaucoma drug that has saved the sight of millions around the world. Come and be persuaded to follow more than one of your passions. Life is too long to be filled with just one avocation. This talk is presented by the Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs, the Biology Program, and the Career Development Office. For further information, call 845-758-7407.

This event was last updated on 03-02-2007

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